April 28, 2022 - Today, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, announces the return of Sunshine, the deceptively gray yet citrusy flavor, in honor of Mental Health Awareness month, and in partnership with On Our Sleeves®, a nonprofit organization on a mission to break stigmas around children’s mental health.
Sunshine is an ice cream designed to get people talking. It’s a flavor that looks as muted gray as a rain cloud, but tastes like a ray of sunshine. A fun play on the mind and a pleasant reminder that things aren’t always what they seem.
Sunshine is meant to raise awareness of — and spark conversations about — children’s mental health. Additionally, Jeni’s is proud to donate $25k to help On Our Sleeves® distribute Kindness Kits to 30,000 kids in classrooms across the country. Each kit includes a curriculum for the educator and hands-on activities for children to learn about and practice strategies for mental and emotional wellness together.
"Even before the pandemic, we were seeing alarming trends in children’s mental health," notes Dr. Ariana Hoet, Ph.D., a pediatric psychologist at Nationwide Children's Hospital and clinical director of On Our Sleeves®. "This is why it is important to provide parents, caretakers and teachers with resources and information to better understand the children in their lives. By having important conversations and building daily check-in habits, we are equipping kids with the resources they need to build their mental wellness and feel comfortable seeking help when they need it. We are so excited by Jeni's commitment to supporting pediatric mental health and to continuing these conversations over a scoop of Sunshine."
In addition, Jeni’s is also accepting donations at checkout in scoop shops throughout May. Customers will be able to donate $1 to support On Our Sleeves®. Every $1 donated will fund digital mental health resources for one classroom.
Jeni’s has designed the Sunshine flavor to look the opposite of the way it tastes, leaning on the intentionality and innovation of its flavor creation. While it may look like a rain cloud, this flavor boasts a lemon punch upfront with a tart backbone of passion fruit and a soft undercurrent of sweet tangerine. Like all of Jeni’s buttermilk frozen yogurts, it’s made with fresh yogurt and cultured buttermilk, giving this flavor the bouncy texture the brand is known for.
Jeni’s has also partnered with streetwear brand Lonely Ghost on a collaboration sweatshirt inspired by Sunshine and the flavor’s mission, featuring an embroidered design depicting stormy weather and sunshine. The limited-edition item will be available through the Lonely Ghost site on May 4th at 9pm EST.
Sunshine is back for a limited-time-only beginning on April 28th and is available online at jenis.com and in scoop shops. Throughout the month of May, Jeni’s scoop shops will also feature conversation starters designed by the behavioral health experts at On Our Sleeves® to spark conversations with kids, inviting ice cream fans to check in over a scoop of Sunshine.
About Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams and Jeni Britton:
Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams is a modern American ice cream company devoted to making the finest ice creams the world has ever known. Founded in Columbus, OH in 2002 by James Beard Award-winning ice cream maker Jeni Britton, Jeni's has emerged over the past 20 years as the new standard by which all other ice creams (and ice cream companies) are judged. With Jeni in charge of all creative output—from the ice cream itself to all of the supporting details that enhance the experience of eating it—Jeni's continues to make one-of-a-kind flavors with Direct and Fair Trade ingredients and super fresh milk from family dairy farms. Today, Jeni's is a Certified B Corporation known for its social, environmental and business leadership with more than 60 scoop shops, an online shop at jenis.com and distribution in top grocery stores across the country.
Media Contact:
The Brand Guild
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About On Our Sleeves®
Children don't wear their thoughts on their sleeves. With 1 in 5 children living with a significant mental illness and half of all lifetime mental health issues starting by age 14, we need to give them a voice. On Our Sleeves®, powered by behavioral health experts at Nationwide Children's Hospital, aims to provide every community in America with free resources necessary for breaking child mental health stigmas and educating families and advocates, because no child or family should struggle alone.
Since the inception of On Our Sleeves® in 2018, more than 3 million people have interacted with our free pediatric mental health educational resources at OnOurSleeves.org and our educator curricula have reached more than 1.1 million students across the United States. We depend on philanthropy to underwrite our mission of providing free educational resources across America and will be seeking funding partners to create a meaningful collaboration.
Please contact Amanda Dove, Director of Corporate Partnerships at 1-866-317-5437 or amanda.dove@nationwidechildrens.org to learn how millions of families can learn about your brand.
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